Two students in one district died of COVID on the same day, SC coroner says

A 9-year-old boy and a 15-year-old girl are being mourned after the students in the same South Carolina school district died on the same day of COVID-19.

Both Ethan Blue and Emily Brosnahan died on Sept. 1, and COVID-19 was the cause of death, Aiken County Coroner Darryl Ables told The State.

Ethan was a fourth-grade student at North Augusta Elementary and Emily had recently started her sophomore year at Aiken High. Both schools are part of the Aiken County School District.

Ables said he did not know when Ethan and Emily each contracted the coronavirus.

Born in Richland County, Ethan “enjoyed the outdoors, cutting grass, and fixing stuff,” according to his obituary.

A memorial service for Ethan will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at the Barr-Price Funeral Home’s chapel in Batesburg-Leesville.

Ethan is survived by his parents and two brothers, among other family members, according to his obituary.

Emily was always smiling, according to an online fundraiser.

“Emily truly loved life. Emily was full of energy, loved being around family and friends, and always brought a smile to everyone’s face. If you knew Emily, you loved Emily,” said Ronnie Patterson, who organized the fundraiser.

Information on a funeral service for Emily was not available.

She is survived by her mother and sister, among other family members, according to the fundraiser.

“Emily touched so many lives in her short 15 years we were blessed with her,” Patterson said. “She truly made the world a better place. Her loss will be felt heavily for a long time to come by her family, friends, and all who loved her.”

Following Ethan and Emily’s deaths, the Aiken County Board of Education held a “special called meeting” on Tuesday.

During that meeting, school board members said they are also mourning the deaths of district employees Angela Dicks and Gisele Morlan, who worked at Aiken Elementary, as well as Clearwater Elementary’s Candace Beasley, WRDW reported. There was no word on the cause of any of the employees’ deaths.

Since the first day of classes on Aug. 16, the Aiken County School District has reported 350 students and 29 employees have the coronavirus. Additionally, 5,048 students — about 22% — and 100 staffers are in quarantine, according to the school district.

Overall, the school district has 23,330 students and 3,371 employees.

More than 17,000 South Carolina children age 10 and under have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the state’s first schools opened their doors in late July.

The surge in infections among young children is forcing schools to suspend in-person classes and taxing children’s hospitals across the state.

South Carolina has reported more than 773,000 confirmed and probable cases of the coronavirus and 10,972 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

Through Tuesday, six children 10 and under have died in South Carolina from COVID-19, while 12 deaths have been reported in the 11-20 year-old group, according to DHEC.

In Aiken County, 268 people have died, health officials said.

This story was originally published September 8, 2021 at 11:41 AM with the headline "Two students in one district died of COVID on the same day, SC coroner says."

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription